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Commission and Member States to raise consumer concerns with app industry
Europe's "app economy" is booming. It employs over 1 million people and is expected to be worth €63bn in the next five years.
According to the external app analytics platform Distimo, around 80% of the revenue – estimated at over 10 billion EUR per year – of one supplier comes from purchases made by consumers from within an application by which consumers access special content or features, commonly called "in-app" purchases.
For the app economy to develop its full potential and continue innovating, consumers need to trust the products. At present over 50% of the EU online games' market consists of games advertised as “free”, although they often entail, sometimes costly, in-app purchases.
Often consumers are not fully aware that they are spending money because their credit cards get charged by default.